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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

We finally finished Jillian's room and I am so excited to share it with you!

Of course I have to show the before pictures first. When we first moved in our upstairs felt a little like stepping back in time. While we loved the originality and charm, we also knew we had to lighten it up.

BEFORE:

BEFORE:

(The closet was an add on)

And as renovations tend to go, this was not without its share of troubles. When my husband was doing some repairs on the window, wouldn't you know it, but he discovered all of the inside boards were rotted. So imagine my surprise when I was working outside, heard my name being called, and turned the corner to this...

(You should have seen the stares we got as people drove by.)

I should also mention that while we were working on my daughter's room, we were also making a lot of outdoor changes, which is why our front beds were nothing but dirt.

And I'm not sure my husband was so pleased with my grand idea of refinishing the original floors. Whew, what a mess and what a job... and that's an understatement!

But in the end... I'd have to say it was all worth it. (smile)

AFTER:

Her room is so bright and sweet now. I think this may be my favorite room in the entire house! I especially love the schoolhouse light... we will also use these same fixtures (purchased from Amazon) in the office landing area upstairs.

My husband built the little reading nook in the corner. This room is very large but we wanted to keep the room simple without multiple pieces of furniture. This seemed the perfect thing to do with a bare corner.

Despite the hours of work, I do love the way the floors turned out.

The door to her room is original, but since the closet was an add on, a newer door was installed here. However, we ordered this five panel door from Lowe's to replace the one that was already there so it would match the original.

We purchased this antique dresser a couple years ago. I was worried that the wood would be too dark for the room, but it actually seems to match well with the light fixture and curtain rods being an oil rubbed bronze.

I made the curtains with some ticking fabric I found at our local fabric store.

The cushion for the reading nook is also made from the same fabric, but I
recruited my mom to help with that project. It was a little too
advanced for my novice sewing skills!

I love this cross stitch and it's very special to me. My mom made this for me when I was a little girl and then she had it framed and matted again when Jillian was born.

We debated on what to put beside the bed. We had a couple different end tables we tried, but nothing seemed to look or fit right. Then I saw a Pottery Barn Kids magazine with a picture of some shelves next to a bed, so I asked my husband to build two. I am so fortunate that he's so handy and enjoys building things!

I love the view from her bedroom...

I have a few ideas for the shelves, but we haven't gotten that far yet, so for now I've decorated with a few special things we already had.

My father-in-law recently gave Jillian this antique Snow White figurine. He found it stored away at his parent's home.

We hung a few antique plates above the bed.

Jillian received two very generous gifts for her birthday a couple years ago... this quilt bedding, made by my mom, and the bed, from my mother-in-law, which is from Pottery Barn Kids. The sheets are from the Shabby Chic line at Target.

I bought these plates over four years ago, before Jillian was born. Sometime maybe I'll share some pictures of her first room even though we no longer live in the same house... it was so sweet.

A few more vintage items on the shelves.

Here you can see the original door, which we left in its stained wood state.

In the little nook beside the closet I hung some bunting that is made from the same fabric as the bedding.

I also painted this vintage garden bench white and put it here for Jillian to use for some of her stuffed animals and dolls. Below is a basket filled with a couple throw blankets.

(If you are wondering where Jillian's toys are, we have another bedroom upstairs we use as a playroom for the girls.)

I hope you enjoyed the room tour! Jillian loves her new room and I have to say, I do too.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

It's been quiet over on my end, I know... but I've been busy! I've gotten quite a bit accomplished this week and it feels so good. We finally finished Jillian's bedroom and I'm so excited to share it with you... I just need to take some photos.

Another thing I've been busy with is the garden and yesterday we stopped at a local farm and I purchased some corn and peaches to put up for this winter.

When I got home my Country Living magazine was waiting in the mailbox and inside was a recipe for strawberry hand pies. They looked scrumptious. After dinner and the girls were put to bed my husband mentioned he was hungry for some dessert... I was so excited... I had a reason to try this recipe! When they were pulled warm out of the oven, I actually ate three. Okay, really it was almost four.

So I hope you don't mind me sharing another recipe with you! But this one is a keeper. I didn't have any strawberries, but I did have the peaches I had just bought so I substituted a peach filling for strawberries, but otherwise I followed this recipe to a tee.

Tonight we had dinner at our house with all my family so I had an excuse to make more peach hand pies this afternoon.

I substituted approximately the same weight in strawberries for peaches and substituted the strawberry jam for peach jam.

I almost always have a helper that is begging to stir something.

Yep, this is me. These days I'm usually cooking around at least one little girl and sometimes two. (smile)

Like the recipe, I rolled my pie rounds into about a 6" circle.

This was my prettiest pie. I didn't worry about them looking perfect.

Delicious! Of course the girls and I couldn't wait until dinnertime to sample one. (Yes, even though I had almost four the previous night.)

I set aside a pie for Jillian while she ran upstairs to change and caught this little one trying to sneak a bite! She's quick too.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

I love this time of year when berries are in season. Sunday we had my parents and my in-laws over for supper for Father's Day. We had such a nice time. For dessert I threw this simple berry crumble together and it was such a perfect dessert for summer - light and delicious.

Begin by combining about 3 cups (or more if you desire) of fruit in a baking dish (I used a 9" pie dish... this is my every day Fiestaware, which I still love after 8 years!) with 1 Tbsp flour.

I used fruit I already had on hand: raspberries, blackberries and sliced peaches. What I love about this recipe though is you can use whatever fruit is in season.

In a separate mixing bowl, combine 1/4 cup of flour, 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, a pinch of salt, and 4 Tbsp unsalted butter. You can use your hands or a pastry cutter to form a crumb mixture.

Sprinkle the topping over the fruit mixture and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes.

While the crumble was baking, I quickly made some whipped cream. I watched it closely and stopped whipping while it was still in a somewhat pourable consistency. I didn't think to measure this while I was making it, but I usually just guess the amount of heavy whipping cream I need and then throw in a splash of vanilla and sugar at the end.

This would also be delicious with ice cream though.

This picture makes me laugh... it's the only picture I took before we ate dessert... I peeked into the dining room to make sure nobody was looking before snapping a quick photo. The only person who saw was my husband and he definitely gave me "the look/the head shake/the knowing grin" when I sat down. (The look/the head shake/the knowing grin = did you really just take a picture of dessert for your blog?!)

Anyway, this dessert was the perfect combination of delicious and easy. You'll love it!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Do you have plans tomorrow for Father's Day? I'm having supper at my house... I'm looking forward to cooking and having everyone over. In preparation I organized the dining room today and made a couple updates.

I used to go all out on my seasonal decorating, but I find during the past couple years my changes are very simple... it usually consists of going out into the yard to see if there are any clippings I can bring inside and a project here and there.

Today I wandered outside with a basket and came in with some hydrangeas (I'm sure you are probably tired of seeing my hydrangeas!) and some lemon balm that needed to be cut back.

As usual, I put my clippings in some pitchers for the mantel. I also took 5 minutes to put together this little banner.

Recently I won a fun giveaway from Lynn at Shabby Story (such a beautiful blog), which included a piece of burlap ribbon printed with numbers. I cut the ribbon into four sections and simply strung twine through it.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Today I thought I'd share some photos of a few changes I made yesterday in our kitchen. You may have noticed if you've looked at our kitchen photos before that our kitchen is a little awkward and has limited cabinet space. Shortly after we moved in, I found this freestanding wood cabinet and brought it home for extra storage. It stands next to our other freestanding white cabinet, which we use as a pantry.

Previously I've used the shelves above the cabinet to store pretty dishes, but recently I "bought" (I put bought in quotations since really these were practically given to me... more on that in a minute) three half-gallon size mason jars to add to the one I already had and yesterday realized I should actually utilize these jars to store some dry foods.

And as it happens, these three jars come with a story... can you believe that last week I had the opportunity to meet somebody that I found through my blog? I never imagined that a fellow blogger would live less than an hour away from me... and that I would not only meet her in person, but actually consider her a true friend! But last week Amy was having a vintage yard sale and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to meet. And it was... Amy is so genuinely sweet, has the loveliest family, a beautiful home and amazing style. (If you haven't visited her blog, All Things Home, you must be sure to stop by and say hello. You'll love her!)

I filled the jars with dry foods I use frequently, like rice and grits.

I did leave a shelf for these pretty cups and saucers though... I love this pattern.

I also have some antique silverware displayed here. I have two sets of mismatched silverware... one set we use, but this set the plating has chipped in spots so it just sits here looking pretty in an old crock.

I bought most of this together and I knew it was meant for me when I found one piece monogrammed with an "A". (smile)

An old postage scale. I love this old scale because it actually works.

(In fact, one day I actually noticed my scale missing and later found out my dad had borrowed it to weigh some animal feed!)

Looking forward to doing some canning this summer...

The cabinet itself is used to store additional cookbooks, my Bosch mixer and aprons.

Anyway, it's always fun to make a few changes, especially when it frees up room in the pantry! And this display seems so appropriate for our farmhouse kitchen.